Welsh Women’s Aid Briefing

CPS ‘Violence against Women and Girls Crime Report’

2013-2014

Please find below a summary of the CPS violence against women and girls (VAWG) crime report for 2013-14 summarising the key findings and statistics concerning Domestic Abuse (DA), Sexual Violence (SV) and other forms of VAWG.The figures again confirm the gendered nature of these types of violence and abuse.

Although overall prosecutions and convictions are seen to be increasing, the figures also raise some concerning trends. This isparticularly relevant in regard to the year on year increase in jury acquittals for rape and human trafficking offences that has been recorded.

The full report can be found at:

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

  • The volume of VAWG crime prosecuted rose from 82,165 in 2012-13 to 90,516 in 2013-14. A rise of 8,351 defendants prosecuted;
  • The volume convicted rose by 6,527 from 60,853 in 2012-13 to 67,380 in 2013-14;
  • From those with recorded gender, the proportion of women victims was 84%;
  • 94% of VAWG defendants in 2013-14 were men;
  • It was of concern to note that 26% of defendants (23,557) were under 24 years old, with 2,746 (3%) of defendants being 14-17 years old and 197 (0.2%) aged from 10-13;
  • From those victims with recorded age, the majority were aged 25-59 (65%) and 18-24 (25%);
  • Also of concern are figures showing 30.5% of victims (20,624) were under 24 years old, with 3,157 (5%) aged 14-17, 830 (1%) aged 10-13 and 163 under 10 years of age.

CPS VAW Prosecutions 2013 – 14 for Wales

AREA / Convictions / Unsuccessful / Total
volume / % / volume / %
All Wales / 4,854 / 76.7% / 1,471 / 23% / 6,325
Dyfed Powys / 502 / 79.1% / 133 / 20.9% / 635
Gwent / 945 / 74.8% / 318 / 25.2% / 1,263
North Wales / 1,025 / 79.4% / 266 / 20.6% / 1,291
South Wales / 2,382 / 76% / 754 / 24% / 3,136

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

  • The volume of DV referrals from the Police rose to 103,569 – a rise of 15,459 referrals (17.5%) from 2012-13 and the highest level ever;
  • 72,905 referrals (70.4% of these referrals) were charged, the highest proportions ever and a rise of 12,716 charged defendants (21.1%) from 2012-13;
  • The volume of prosecutions completed rose to 78,071 – a rise of 7,369 (10.4%) from 2012-13;
  • The case load of DV cases has risen since 2012-13 from 8.9% to 10.7% in 2013-14;
  • The volume of convictions reached 58,276 – a rise of 5,727 (10.9%) since 2012-13;
  • The volume and proportion of guilty pleas rose again to 53,620 which was a rise of 68.7% with 92% of all successful outcomes as a result of guilty pleas;
  • New stalking offences have been implemented and there has been a significant rise in prosecutions of harassment and breaches related to DV – nearly a quarter more across 2013-14 compared with the previous year (more information below);
  • Reasons recorded for unsuccessful outcomes have been changed to ensure improved accuracy: with enhanced recording, the reason ‘evidence of victim does not support case’ has fallen from 14.5% to 2.4%. This is against a rise in victim retractions from 19.5% to 28.1% and victim non-attendance from 17.6% to 24.3%;
  • From victims gender that was recordedthe majority were women at 84%(as since 2010-11);
  • The majority of defendants were men at 93%;
  • The majority of defendants were aged 25-59 (72%) and 18-24 (24%);
  • It was of concern to note that just over 26% of defendants (20,572) were under 24 with 2,114 (3%) of defendants being 14-17 years old and 111 (0.1%) aged 10-13.

CPS DV Prosecutions 2013 – 14 for Wales

AREA / Convictions / Unsuccessful / Total
volume / % / volume / %
All Wales / 4,379 / 77.7% / 1,258 / 22.3% / 5,637
Dyfed Powys / 440 / 80.4% / 107 / 19.6% / 547
Gwent / 853 / 75.6% / 275 / 24.4% / 1,128
North Wales / 913 / 80.1% / 227 / 19.9% / 1,140
South Wales / 2,173 / 77% / 649 / 23% / 2,822

STALKING AND HARASSMENT

  • 10,535 prosecutions commenced for stalking and harassment charges in 2013-14, a rise of 1,887 (21.8%) from 2012-13.743 prosecutions were under the new stalking offenses;
  • 11,651 prosecutions commenced for breaches of restraining orders in 2013-14, a rise of 1,376 breaches (13.4%) from 10,275 in 2012-13;
  • Of all stalking and harassment prosecutions 6,725 (63.8%) were DV related – an increase of 1,666 DV related (32.9%) from 5,059 in the previous year;
  • 516 DV-related prosecutions commenced under stalking offences introduced at the end of November 2012;
  • 9,006 (77.3%) of all restraining order breaches were related to DV, a rise of 1,632 (22.1%) from 7,374 in 2012-13;
  • Of 322 breaches of restraining orders (that were made on acquittal) 245 (76.1%) were in DV cases;
  • 6,498 breaches of non-molestation orders started prosecution, compared with 5,563 in the previous year, 85.9% of which were DV.

The CPS Strategy and Policy Directorate research team carried out a sample of 39 stalking offences from October – December 2013. The majority of victims were women and the majority of perpetrators were men. Of the 39 cases, 33 were qualitatively assessed from the case file notes as DV cases; of which 32 were linked to relationship breakdown.

RAPE

  • The volume of rape referrals from the Police rose to 5,850 in 2013-14 – a rise of 446 referrals (0.3%) from 2013-14;
  • 3,621 (61.9%) of these referrals were charged, a rise of 732 charged defendants (25.3%) from 2012-13;
  • The volume of rape convictions reached 2,348 – a rise of 15from 2012-13;
  • Guilty pleas fell slightly from 39.7% in 2012-13 to 35.9% of successful outcomes, 59.5% were due to guilty pleas;
  • Discontinued cases have continued to fall and reached the lowest level of 13.1% of all prosecuted rape cases;
  • Of concern,of reasons given for unsuccessful outcomes the proportion due to jury acquittals has risen year on year from 56.1% in 2012-13 to 60.3% in 2013-14;
  • The rape caseload has risen since last year from 9.8% to 11.1%;
  • MOJ stats suggest a fall in convictions from 1,145 in 2012 (MOJ stats calculated as a calendar year, not financial year) to 1,121 in 2013;
  • The majority of defendants were men at 99% as in 2012-13;
  • Recording of victim gender is not robust enough to include in the report;
  • The majority of defendants were aged 25-59 (61%) and 18-24 (21%);
  • It was of concern that almost 30% of defendants were under 24 (1,131) with 264 (7%) of defendants being 14-17 and 35 (1%) aged 10-13.

In March 2013 a report was launched regarding false allegations of rape and DV. The report showed that false allegations were far rarer than first believed. It also showed that out of the couple of cases found, they involved people under the age of 21 and the majority having mental health difficulties.

CPS Rape Prosecutions 2013 – 14 for Wales

AREA / Convictions / Unsuccessful / Total
volume / % / volume / %
All Wales / 149 / 58% / 108 / 42% / 257
Dyfed Powys / 14 / 56% / 11 / 44% / 25
Gwent / 33 / 60% / 22 / 40% / 55
North Wales / 42 / 63.6% / 24 / 36.4% / 66
South Wales / 60 / 54.1% / 51 / 45.9% / 111

SEXUAL OFFENCES (EXCLUDING RAPE)

  • CPS is unable to record the pre-charge data for sexual offences;
  • 8,554 defendants were prosecuted in 2013-14 for sexual offenses (excluding rape), a rise from 7,771 in 2013-14;
  • Volume of convictions reached 6,756 – the highest volume ever and a rise of 13% from the previous year;
  • The proportion of successful outcomes rose to 79%;
  • In 2013-14 the majority of defendants were men at 97.4%;
  • The majority of defendants were aged 25-59 (66%) and 18-24 (17%);
  • It was a concern to note that almost a fifth of defendants (1,854) were under 24 with just over 4% of defendants (368) being 14-17 years old and just under 1% (51) aged 10-13 years old.

CPS Sexual Offences Prosecutions 2013 – 14 for Wales

AREA / Convictions / Unsuccessful / Total
volume / % / volume / %
All Wales / 326 / 75.6% / 105 / 24.4% / 431
Dyfed Powys / 48 / 76.2% / 15 / 23.8% / 63
Gwent / 59 / 73.8% / 21 / 26.3% / 80
North Wales / 70 / 82.4% / 15 / 17.6% / 85
South Wales / 149 / 73.4% / 54 / 26.6% / 203

FORCED MARRIAGE

  • The volume of forced marriage referrals from the Police rose to 67 from 59 in 2012-13;
  • 42 (62.7%) were charged, the highest number ever recorded;
  • 71% of charged cases were successful;
  • Discontinued cases fell from 41.5% (from when they were first recorded in 2010) to 17.8% in 2013-14.

SO CALLED ‘HONOUR’-BASED VIOLENCE

  • The volume of honour-based violencereferrals from the Police rose to 240 from 230 in 2012-13;
  • 158 (65.8%) of these referrals were charged, the highest volume and proportions ever recorded;
  • 206 defendants were prosecuted, a rise from 200 last year, but only 59.7% were convicted, a small fall in overall convictions from 2012-13;
  • Discontinued cases fell from 40.6% (from when they were first recorded in 2010-11 to 27.2% in 2013-14.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

  • The first prosecution of an FGM offence started in March 2014.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION

  • Human trafficking referrals from the Police rose to 171 in 2013-14 – a rise of 30.5% from 131 referrals in 2012-13;
  • 103 (60.2% of these referrals) were charged;
  • The volume of successful human trafficking prosecutions completed reached 226 – a rise from 139 in 2012-13;
  • There was a rise in successful human trafficking outcomes from 99 in 2012-13 to 155 in 2013-14. 71.2% of successful outcomes in 2012-13 fell to 68.6% in 2013-14; mainly linked to a rise in Jury acquittals.

PORNOGRAPHY

  • There has been a rise in the prosecution of child abuse images from 18,937 to 20,373 including prosecutions commenced for 15,574 offences of sexual exploitation of children through photographs including a rise in prosecutions of possession of a prohibited image of a child from 394 to 534;
  • Overall there was a rise of 8% for convictions of child abuse images and a fall of 13.5% of obscenity offences reaching a first hearing.

If you have any comments or questions about this briefing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:

Becky Jones

Policy Officer / Swyddog Polisi

02920 541551

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